Artay

General Information

Artay is a weekend art festival from February 23rd to the 25th at Saratoga Springs, a retreat center about 2.5 hours north of San Francisco. The attendees are a collection of artists and art aficionados, many of whom identify as queer or weird in all the best ways. The community overlaps heavily with Burning Man, and the principles of the event follow essentially the same 10 principles of Burning Man, although you certainly don't have to be Burner to attend Artay.

At it's core Artay is similar to many other weekend campouts such as All Of Us and the Gays Hate Techno Gathering. We will party and frolic about the woods, eat amazing food, and do a lot of connecting with one another. Most of all, we will be doing art!

The Art

Artay is set to feature a wide range of art and artistic mediums from traditional forms such as the display of paintings and drawings; to more industrial arts such as fashion and lighting displays; and even musical, dance, and DJ performances. We are encouraging every attendee to think of themselves as an artist and to bring something to share with the community if they are able to.

However, we recognize that not everyone considers themselves a creator of art. Many art forms require an audience, and as long as you actively identify yourself as a audience member for a particular type of art, we are considering you part of that art and that art a part of you.

When registering for Artay everyone is asked to declare your art. If you are a creator this is probably self explanatory. If you're not sure what your art is, we have some information on the what is my art page that may help. We feel asking this question of everyone helps us all be in the right frame of mind to have a wonderfully collaborative weekend, and want to be clear that no one should be put off by it.

The Food

Your registration for Artay includes 4 gourmet meals prepared by the amazing Chef Brenden Blaine Darby. Brenden has traveled the world in pursuit of culinary excellence and has worked with the best chefs in the top restaurants. He will be preparing two dinners and two brunches to feed us from Friday evening through Sunday morning.

Brenden is not only an culinary artist, but also a Burning Man camp organizer and an entrepreneur who feed several thousand people at last year's burn through his company No Bull Food.

It's a real treat that he is able to join us at the event, and an even bigger win that he's able to cook for us. We basically can't say enough good things and consider the opportunity to eat his food worth the price of admission alone. #fanboys

The Partying

Several attendees are DJs, and with a large percentage of the crowd being burners, dance parties are inevitable. We're bringing The Black Pearls, the soundsystem that lurks under the skin of BAAAHS when he's fully built and roaming the playa, and one of the special things about this venue is that there are absolutely no noise restrictions beyond those we impose on ourselves.

If you would like to DJ, please bring your music! We'll have mixers and CDJs, but if you need anything else (like turntables) please try to bring it on your own or reach out to us to see if we can help coordinate something. Most of the lineup will be created on the spot at the event based on how everyone is feeling, but don't hesitate to be in touch if there's a specific time or context in which you would like to play.

Everyone can count on there being a main Saturday night party for sure, and it's almost certain that we'll get the gear setup and want to play Friday night as well.

The Venue

Saratoga Springs is a unique private resort center nestled in a 260-acre valley two and a half hours north of San Francisco. During the event we will have exclusive use of the entire center and it's facilities, which means you should feel free to relax and express yourself in whatever way you would like.

The Heart Lodge

This well heated 2,400 sq. ft building provides a perfect space to gather for performances and dance parties.

The Pool & Hot Tub

The large outdoor pool and hot tub are a great place to relax in a more peaceful fashion when dancing isn't what you're feeling

The Yurt

This structure serves as a more intimate secondary venue for gatherings of all sorts

Individual Cabins

In addition to a main lodge with several bunk room style housing options the grounds feature several smaller cabins of varying sizes.

More information on how to request these will be available soon when the housing request form is published.

Hiking Trails

Weather permitting (and unfortunately it's possible it will be to wet), the grounds feature a number of hiking trails throughout the valley for those looking for a daytime excursion.